Reviews for you-s (and a feature)

I’ve been up to my eyeballs in book editing and proofing (not my own, other people’s) this last week. I’m having a wee break today before I edit the final title assigned me, and thereafter commence work on my next Black Library novel (nope, I can’t tell you what it is about). As I’ve not posted any archive material for a few days, here’s three for you from early 2008:

An extensive feature on TV show Ashes to Ashes, the follow-up to genre-crossing Life on Mars. Written as the first series was launched, most of the cast are interviewed here, as is the writer and producer. Check it out.

A review of one of the Sookie Stackhouse books, Definitely Dead.

And finally, a review of the BBC’s update of The Three Billy Goats Gruff, Billy Goat.

 

 

 

 

Why Aliens Versus Predator is terrible…

Ah, a good ranty review of the (almost) execrable AVP: Requiem. Just rereading it makes me mildly irritated. Funnily enough, this one wasn’t screened for the critics, and we had to resort to subterfuge to get a copy to review.

February of 2008 when Death Ray 11 was being written, the magazine wherefrom these pieces are plucked, must have been a splenetic month, for my review of Family Guy: Blue Harvest also seems quite damning. But then there’s New Zealand weresheep comedy Black Sheep, which I enjoyed a little more.

Ah, I remember why! None of us got paid for nearly three months, and our boss was very evasive about exactly why… A story for another time.

Reproduced in this post, for your convenience and the lessening of RSI risk, is the AVP review. Click on the links in the text for the others.

Why Stargate is pants

Today’s archive piece, from the “Time Trap” regular feature of Death Ray 12, sees me take out one of SF TV’s most sacred cows and shoot it in the face with a bolt of critical reason.

I’d been waiting a long time to say what I said here. Lots of people love SG, and so for years I was forced to remain silent (repeatedly demolishing one of the few truly popular SF shows of the time would have alienated a large chunk of the readership). Not lie, you understand, just not scream “Can’t you see how bad it is?” at every opportunity I had. Reviews were one of the rare places I could vent, but these were often given to fans of the show. No one on SFX or Death Ray had much time for it, to be honest.

To save the feelings of these misguided others (not least the SG cast and crew, who were generally very nice people) I tried to be reasonable in this piece, but frankly I thought the entire franchise dreadful television. If I were writing this now for this blog, it would be a lot more ranty, with more swearing. I reckon a large part of its popularity is down to the fact that there was very little SF on telly at the time, or am I being generous?

I like the film though. That counts for something, eh?

Stargate

1997 saw the beginning of what was to become the longest running SF show besides our own Doctor Who. But it was hardly groundbreaking stuff. Just why was Stargate so popular?

1994, and an SF movie called Stargate hit the screens. Meeting with middling reviews, it made a good return, but sank out of the popular consciousness with rapidity.

Stargate was yet another SF concept that drew inspiration from Von Danniken’s Chariots of the Gods, which suggests aliens were behind many of the ancient world’s technologies. A disgraced archaeologist named Daniel Jackson (James Spader), who regards the pyramids as landing platforms for alien spaceships, is recruited by the US government to help in deciphering the writing on a mysterious artefact found in 1928 in Egypt. He succeeds, and activates a wormhole to the alien world of Abydos. Jackson is sent along on a military expedition led by Colonel O’Neil (Kurt Russell) to Abydos, where an offshoot of the ancient Egyptian civilisation lives, and once there they must do battle with a parasitic alien who is worshipped as the sun god Ra.

More aliens, but of the fictional type

Hearken and click! Here’s an interview with Alec Gillis, the man behind the aliens and predator monsters.

Fun lovin’ vamps

From Death Ray 10, an interview with Laurell K Hamilton, author of the Merry Gentry and Anita Blake books.

Aliens! Aiiieeeeeee!

That got your attention, no? And well it should. Some of my favourite interviews I’ve conducted have been with people who are not primarily connected with SF (probably because it made a change from chatting to actors). This one from 2007 with Nick Pope, the ex-MoD man who used to investigate UFOs for the UK government, was really fascinating.

Yeah, it’s an archive post, but it’s a good one. Promise.

Archive, archive, archive…

A couple more for you. At this rate, my war with my Death Ray back issues will be over by Christmas.

So, here we have an interview with one of my favourite artists, Paul Bonner, and a review of his art collection book, Out of the Forests…

There can be only one archive piece…

…because I have a lot to do. How fitting that it is this interview from Death Ray 10 with the one and only Adrian Paul, star of the TV version of Highlander.

First Baneblade write-up

A favourable review of Baneblade from the Warseer forums.

Baneblade (Guy Haley).

Today’s Archive

Some how-to artbooks and that.

From Death Ray 09, a two fantasy artbooks. One of these is by Gary Spence Millidge, no less.

From Death Ray 10, Incredible Comics with Tom Nguyen.